Elizabeth Faircloth

We are back with another amazing feature. Today we had the pleasure of talking to Elizabeth Faircloth.With a $30,000 loan from her father, Liz began her investing career when she was 26 years old with the purchase of a duplex right outside of Philadelphia. After selling this duplex and moving to New Jersey, she co-founded the DeRosa Group with her husband, Matt. The DeRosa Group, based in Trenton, NJ, is a real estate investment company that specializes in buying and renovating dilapidated properties to either sell or hold. DeRosa now owns and controls over 350 units which consist of residential and commercial assets throughout the east coast.

Liz is the host of “The Real Estate InvestHER Show,” a podcast providing straight talk along with inspiration for existing and aspiring women investors to live both fulfilled and financially free lives. On the personal side, Liz comes from a spirited Italian family, is blessed with amazing friends and the mom of two adorable young children both under the age of 5. She is an avid runner and loves finding ways to give back to her community.

Let’s dive into the Q & A…

Landlordette: What inspired you to get where you are at today?

Liz: When I was in my early 20’s, my then boyfriend Matt and I began reading Rich Dad Poor Dad together and this completely opened our eyes to passive income, working for yourself, and the power of real estate investing. Matt and I took a bunch of courses and began to fall in love with real estate and the power of this asset class. We also played Robert Kiyosaki’s Cash Flow board game and this also opened our eyes of the power of real estate. We both knew we wanted more out of life than the typical life of “getting a 9-5 job.” We wanted to live full lives and be able to give back to this world in a powerful way. That is why within a week of us getting married, my husband decided to quit his job and become a full time investor. I continued to work in my consulting role to keep cash flow coming in as we grew our real estate company. I have worked part time and full time in our business over the years. I am working now in a part time basis as I build the Real Estate InvestHER podcast venture with my friend, Andresa, and as I am home with my little ones.

Landlordette: Throughout your career what have been your biggest struggles?

Liz: In order to get where we are today, we took a lot of risks early on. Risks that I probably would not take today! Biggest challenge when we began was that we were not laser focused on a niche. We have gotten really good at buying mulifamily and apartment buildings, adding value and then either selling these assets or holding them as long term investments. This is something we should have stuck to early on instead of getting distracted in other types of projects. Feeling overwhelmed has also been a personal struggle. That is why I started the Real Estate InvestHER show with my friend Andresa. We wanted to build a community of women who wanted to become financially free with real estate and live a balanced life. This is not always the easiest thing to do with children, family, etc.

Landlordette: How did you overcome these ups and downs? What advice would you give to people in that position?

Liz: I would say to become really good at a real estate investing niche – become a master at this area first – then once you have had a lot of success with this niche, then you can branch out to other areas of investing. With the overwhelm challenge, I would say that it is critical to surround yourself with great people. I run a mastermind of women investors and it has been wonderful to give and get support over the years.

Landlordette: If you could, would you change anything about your journey?

Liz: No, every single challenge we have had has taught us important lessons along the way.

Landlordette: Has luck played a meaningful role getting you where you are today?

Liz: No, my father always told me that “the harder you work the luckier you get.” I also believe this in a lot of ways. I think the keys to getting where we are has been a result of faith in God, faith in ourselves, tons of personal and professional growth, tons of action, goal setting, being nimble and flexible and a commitment to never, ever giving up.

Landlordette: Let’s talk real estate…what do you think will be the biggest changes in the industry over the next few years?

Liz: Great question. I think for the market will course correct soon. We lived through the last recession and crash in 2008, and our goal is to thrive during the next one. Right now, multifamily and flipping is hot, so this has drove up the cost of properties significantly. I think if the market crashes or course corrects we are going to see properties go down in price, and those who are positioned correctly will have a field day buying deals at a discount. That is what we are focused on positioning ourselves to do.

Landlordette: Any mentors? Who has played a meaningful role in getting you where you are today?

Liz: I have had a lot of different mentors for different aspects of the business. For landlording, we took a great course early on and implemented these strategies in our business. When we wanted to get into larger apartment building complexes, we mentored under Joe Fairless who was fantastic. For business support, myself and my husband are part of mastermind groups where we get mentorship and continual support. There has not been one mentor but many mentors depending on what we needed at the time.

Landlordette: A couple fun questions…If you could have any superpower what would it be and why?

Landlordette: Would you rather have an all expense paid wardrobe or new car of your choice?

Liz: After my kiddos are grown, I would love to have a white convertible!

We loved learning more about Liz and how she got where she is today! If you have more questions for Liz don’t hesitate to reach out. You can email her: liz@therealestateinvesther.com or find them on Facebook @therealestateinvesther.

If you have recently been inspired by someone in the industry, let us know here! We’d love to reach out for interview.